Hackers stole $41M of bitcoin on one of world’s largest crypto exchanges
Binance, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, announced it has been a victim of a massive security breach.
The exchange said late Tuesday that hackers have run off with over 7,000 bitcoin worth an estimated $41 million after they used a “variety of techniques, including phishing and viruses,” to tab into its systems.
While the thieves only got a hold of around 2 percent of Binance’s bitcoin holdings and all other cryptocurrencies were “unharmed,” the exchange said it will need to suspend all deposits and withdrawals for at least one week.
“We beg for your understanding in this difficult situation,” the company said, adding that it will continue to enable trading so that users can adjust their positions if they wish.
The company also said hackers managed to obtain some user information during the attack and warned they "may still control certain user accounts and may use those to influence prices.”
The hack comes amid a recent rally for bitcoin, which climbed 9 percent over the past week. However, the company noted that it will cover the incident in full and no users’ funds will be affected.
“The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple, seemingly independent, accounts at the most opportune time,” Binance said in a statement.
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“It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed.”